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But cabinet member Cllr Richard Beacham, whose portfolio includes Northgate, described the project as ‘community building’ with the phase one leisure scheme paving the way for more city centre living when housing arrived in phase two.

Cabinet members supported revised financing arrangements for Northgate to be signed off by chief executive Andrew Lewis under urgency procedures after consultation with elected members.

Chester resident Catherine Green, a member of The Green Party, had told councillors earlier: “It’s obvious that the global pandemic puts the projected income stream onto a completely unsound footing. It’s previously been argued that phase 1 will bring market confidence to future phases, and stimulate further development, but making the wrong decision now, is likely to do the opposite.

“We can’t deny that things will be different after the lockdown; we don’t yet know if a cure or vaccine will be found and it’s likely that there will be further pandemics in our lifetimes. The future is looking different.

“Patterns of cinema going, eating at restaurants, working from home and shopping have all changed significantly, so existing legal agreements with prospective tenants and the ability to sign-up future ones are surely at risk.”

Catherine Green

She suggested the proposed tenants at Picturehouse, Zizzi and Cosy Club were ‘all experiencing financial challenges and reviewing their futures’.

“When the local press is reporting that 40% of Cheshire pubs and restaurants may not reopen after the pandemic, why would you want to be building new restaurants? Which of you would get into a crowded lift in a multi-story car park today?”

Offering an alternative, she continued: “You could simply create a flat car park on the phase 1 space. This would be cheap and quick, bring in revenue and be popular with businesses. It could have solar canopies with electric charging points. You could even hold drive-in movies which would comply with social distancing. The market could be relocated to an empty town centre space and then phase 2 could proceed.

“Once this was complete you could return to the phase 1 site and design something for the new normal whether that be a multi-screen cinema or a city forest. Ploughing on ahead now and ignoring the signs of the times will only be seen as foolhardy, leave the council behind the curve and be against your own recommendation to proceed with caution.”

Fellow public speaker Mary Whelan said: “Given the new crisis and likely economic slump, should there not be a long pause put on the Northgate Development? We already have great restaurants all along Northgate Street. The council have done a wonderful job on the market where we’ve got lots of food outlets. Should we be building another car park when we need to be reducing car travel having declared a climate emergency?”

She added: “Can we not make the area a stand-out attraction for Chester? We know from the successful examples of the ice cream farm and the Crocky Trail that if we can attract children we will get people in. Could we not think outside the box and have a green space with a maze or something exciting for children along with some housing?”

Ruth Basden thanked the council for its efforts around supporting people through coronavirus.

On Northgate, she said: “I urge the council to stop the Northgate Development at this point and reconsider it. I know the scheme has been a long time in the making but around the world people are making huge adjustments to the pandemic, showing we can do it in a short time. That it’s necessary for our survival.”

She said the climate emergency represented an existential threat and the pandemic should make us take stock about our dependence on cars.

“The climate emergency, with the need to greatly reduce carbon emissions, wasn’t taken seriously by Government when planning for Northgate began but it is now, ” added Ruth, who also fears the scheme may no longer be viable and could prove to be ‘a white elephant with empty units’.

Cllr Richard Beacham

Cllr Richard Beacham, cabinet member for housing, regeneration and growth, invited the public speakers present to email their ideas or concerns and to know ‘that none of their comments fall on deaf ears’.

He responded: “For decades this patch of land in the North West quarter of Chester city centre has been the subject of much debate. Like many others, I had concerns about the retail elements of a previous incarnation of the scheme and following public discourse this was removed to leave a much smaller, well connected, leisure focused development in the city core.

“Councillors have raised the same questions and concerns that the public speakers and local media have raised about the viability of the scheme but we have been assured that it is flexible enough in its construction and design to withstand and be re-shaped by some of the economic uncertainty we face today.

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“The new development – approved by full council last year - complements Storyhouse and the new market hall is the logical progression of the council’s investment to revitalise the old market, again creating the stage so that creative businesses and residents can make something special that other people want to see and be part of.

“Whatever you feel about it though, Northgate Phase 1 is just a small part of a much bigger prize. Like others I see a future for Chester where lots more people are living in the city centre. This will support our high street and develop new types of employment opportunities.

“Delivering this new housing in future phases of Northgate is widely recognised as being the key for keeping graduates and young professionals in our city – and this demographic is vital in order to continue to grow our creative, tech and tourism sectors. It also presents opportunities to encourage older down-sizers to consider city living, to free up family housing in the suburbs, and creates opportunities for people on moderate incomes to enjoy the benefits of living and working in the city centre. This is real community building.”